


Steel Rose

by Ari_Shitbug



Category: RWBY
Genre: Chicks dig giant robots!, Mecha, Mecha Pilot AU!, Other, Paladin AU!, Ruby is a gear head
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-08-22 17:08:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8293460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ari_Shitbug/pseuds/Ari_Shitbug
Summary: Where "Aura" and "Semblance" are regarded as superstition, humanity looks towards more mechanical means of defense against the scary things in the world. Follow Ruby as she bumbles her way through life in her quest to become the pilot of her very own Paladin unit and maybe make some friends in the process. Maybe...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Paladins -- Massive mechanised battle suits utilised by the technologically advanced kingdom of Atlas during the last Great War for the world of remnant. But with the war over, they now serve a new purpose: Allowing man to venture outside the boarders of their walled kingdoms, to discover and cultivate new territory as well as standing guard on the walls themselves, ever vigilant against the dangers that await outside. Their massive strength and versatility gave man the ability to achieve heights far beyond their wildest dreams. However, even encased inside these titanic suits of armour, man is far from invincible.
> 
> The most dangerous tasks of all fall on the hunters, those whose duty it is to travel to and survey new land for prospective settlements as well as eliminate all threats before construction can begin. Becoming a hunter is no easy task, their lives are short filled with danger, but this was the future one girl had chosen for herself and she had decided, no matter what, she would never regret that decision. When her journey began she had truly believed it would be that simple.

Two sisters sat high atop a steel roof basking in the summer sun, feet dangled carelessly over the edge. The racket of machinery and the fumes from hot oil stained tarmac rising into the air from the shipyard below, their eyes cast out expectantly towards the horizon. Awaiting her arrival had become a longstanding tradition for the two, but they had never waited this long before.

The corrugated steel beneath them grew cold in the waning sun and the older sister rose to leave, but the younger girl stubbornly refused to move. Even as the sun sank behind the mountains leaving only crimson skies and a dying light, her silver eyes never stopped searching their edges.

And there it was.

Barely noticeable at first, a glimmer of chrome lit up by the last rays of sun. Slowly the familiar steel frame came into view, the sight of it made the girl’s body feel weightless as she scrambled to her feet.

Gliding effortlessly over the ground, smoke and flame pillaring out from its engines.

Her heart rose only to become trapped in the back of her throat. This wasn’t right was it?

The heavy metal frame slowly nosed towards the ground before collapsing in on itself, tumbling end over end, leaving a trail of splintered metal in its wake before grinding to a sudden halt, crumpled and broken.

The girl watched as rescue teams rushed out onto the tarmac. Emergency sirens sounded from all around like a tremendous agonising wail.

And she stood frozen on that steel roof, looking down at the events unfold and feeling miles away, trying to make sense what she had just witnessed in the space of only a few seconds.

She fell to her knees, her heart sunk like a stone.

It was what she imagined drowning felt like.

Waiting for a breath that would never come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was the prologue. Thanks to anyone who made it this far. Now might be a good time to go home, I won't blame you. Writing and typing definitely aren't my strong suits and the idea of someone reading this makes me cringe so hard I might have spinal damage. 
> 
> I'll add chapter one straight away so there is actually something to read. Tags will be added as they appear (Honestly I usually don't even click on a story if it doesn't have pairings and horrific smut) and obviously any and all feedback is hugely appreciated!


	2. Left Behind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The actual story starts now... hopefully.

For as long as she could remember, all Ruby and Yang had ever wanted to be were pilots. Memories of the two of them sitting in the cockpit on their Mothers lap, staring wide-eyed as they watched her operate the controls. Growing up on a base, they spent practically all their time in the hangar admiring the different paladin rigs. The other pilots would call the girls their good luck charms, they would say that if the girls were there to watch them sortie then they would always come back home safe and sound. That’s what they said.

When their father resigned from the squadron and they moved inland to a tiny cabin in the village of Patch, far away from the walls and far from any base, but even then he could never hope to take the dreams out of his daughter’s heads. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t see a real hangar when Ruby and Yang’s shared bedroom had been practically turned into one, realistic scale model replicas consuming every available surface. They would sit cross legged on their floor, cutting pieces from plastic frames before assembling their forces for make-believe combat.

The plan was that they would get their licenses before joining a specialised combat school and train to become hunters. Yang had signed up for pilot training the day she turned 16. Secretly Ruby had hoped that she would put it off for a couple of years so they could join together but the last thing she wanted was for Yang to think of her as something holding her back.

Standing at the dry dock with their father watching her go had been at once exciting and heart breaking. It was the middle of autumn and being that high up, the cold breeze whipped through her clothes and made her bones shiver. Ruby buried her hands in her red hoodie, trying in vain to hide them from the cold, her hood pulled down over her face, trying in vain to hide the tears in her eyes.

At the back of her mind she wondered how Yang and their Dad could be so unaffected by the cold. Their father Taiyang wearing his typical short sleeved shirt and cargo shorts, tan skin and sandy hair completely exposed to the cold but still somehow managing to stay composed. Although, she thought, if he could stand tall and stone faced as he prepared to watch his daughter leave, even knowing what it meant to him, then nothing would make him tremble.

Yang on the other hand had never had to worry about the cold. Even now as she wore her favourite tan leather jacket and bright yellow tube top as if the elements didn’t apply to her. They had always joked that she was powered by some hidden internal furnace but right now, Ruby would like nothing better than to share in that warmth.

The platform was packed with crowds of parents giving their last tearful goodbyes, children in uniforms hiding trembling nerves with hopeful eyes. Yang made short work of her oversized leather trunk, hoisting it into the airships cargo hold with a single arm before turning and shooting them both one of her signature overconfident grins, blonde mane whipping past her ears in the heavy wind.

A low hum rose over the bluster and the crowd as engines warmed up for take-off. Cadets began to hustle towards the boarding ladder, Yang held back to say her last minute goodbyes. Their dad wrapped his arms around his eldest daughter wishing he never had to let go. But, like Ruby, he would never forgive himself for holding them back. With all the bravery the cowardly lion could muster, he stepped back to watch her go. Now it was Ruby’s turn

Yang seized Ruby in a suffocating embrace that replaced the need for words before taking Ruby’s hands in hers, Yang’s warm violet eyes piercing into ruby’s tearful grey.

“Y’know” Yang’s voice began to crack as she forced the most comforting tone she could manage “the base is only a few miles away from the cliff where –. “

“I know.”

“I’ll say high to her for you.”

The mere mention was enough to push Ruby over the edge. She buried her face in Yang chest, tears built up since they arrived at the station finally flowing out, staining Yang’s bright yellow top. Nurturing instincts took over as she wrapped her strong arms around her little sisters trembling shoulders, pulling down her red hood to stroke her dark crimson hair.

“I know. But it won’t be as long as it seems, I promise. And I’ll write to you every week.”

The two of them knelt there on the cold platform until long after everyone else had boarded. Ruby slowly pulled away as Yang raised a hand to wipe a tear from her eye.

“Keep your chin up little wolf.”

Ruby sniffed, nodded and gave her best forced smile

As the airship pulled away, students waved energetically from behind the glass until the craft was long out of site.

And then there was silence. The quiet remained unbroken during the car ride home, father and daughter both knowing what the other must be thinking but having no idea what to say. Ruby supposed they would both have to get used to the quiet now.

 

The day pressed on and they both had said only a couple of words to each other. Ruby lay on her bed, the double room she had shared with her sister now felt empty, uninviting and altogether too big. In her left hand she held her favourite model gunship a short distance from her face, at a time she would spout out an endless list of facts about its top speed and barrel capacity regardless of who was listening, but now she regarded it coldly.

Her right hand hung off the bed lifelessly where it was met with the slight snuffling of a cold nose.

“Not now Zwei, I’m not in the mood to play”.

The small brown and white corgi responded with a whine and a whimper before paddling away to look for their father.

With a sigh, Ruby set down the model before rising to cross the room and planting herself heavily down onto her sister’s bed. She seized the bright yellow pillow, holding it tightly to her chest and burying her face. The scent of it owner still clung to the fabric, she inhaled deeply and slowly she felt her loneliness ease away.

 

She must have been asleep for a few hours because when she woke, dark orange rays of an evening sun shone through the windowpane to land on the wooden floor. It felt calming, her eyes were still red and sore but the tears had stopped.

She rose with a stretch and faintly she could hear voices coming from the kitchen, had someone arrived while she was sleeping? Gingerly she approached the kitchen door and what sounded like a heated conversation when she noticed something hanging on a hook by the entrance way. A familiar tattered black long coat with a striking red lining that could only belong to one person.

She bounded to the kitchen, threw open the door full of uncontained excitement and there he stood. Tall, gaunt and scruffy, standing on a slight limp, shoulders hunched and hands shoved inside pockets feigning nonchalance. His hair like a faded black birds nest fixed with entirely too much hair wax, striking red eyes marred by slight wrinkles and an unshaven face pulled into a familiar wry grin.

“UNCLE QROW!” his name barely passing her lips before she had both arms wrapped around his waist like a vice, her nose was filled by the scent of old whisky that clung rebelliously to the man wherever he went.

“Did you miss me? DID YOU MISS ME?!” For the first time that day Ruby’s sadness was completely cast aside.

“ _Miss you?_ ” His voice was low and raspy “Who’d miss a runt like you?” and with his free arm moved to ruffle her own red mess of hair

“Still a beansprout huh?!”

“Hey, I’m at least an inch taller than the last time you saw me _and_ I drink milk!” Ruby huffed, stepping back and folding both arms over her chest doing her best to look as indignant as possible despite herself. “But I don’t understand, I thought you were on a mission, what are you doing here?”

“Well, the thing is –“

“Ahem”

Her father cut him off, loudly clearing his throat. She had almost forgotten he was standing there.

“Ruby, it looks like uncle Qrow’s going to be staying with us for a while.”

“I heard you were feeling down in the crapper –“

“Qrow! Language!”

“Are you kidding me? So anyway, I thought I’d take time out of my super top secret mission to come and visit my favourite niece”

Ruby’s silver eyes lit up “Am I really your favourite?”

“You are when Yang’s not here”

“HEY!”

That’s right, Yang wasn’t here, but if she could laugh now then maybe she would be okay.

 

The pair of them continued the energetic discussion while Taiyang prepared dinner. Zwei lying in wait under the table to pounce on any stray scrap to fall (Or for Ruby to drop) onto the floor.  Qrow filling his face as if it were the first meal he’d had in weeks that didn’t come from his hip flask. Despite this, nothing stopped him from spilling said flask into his mug of coffee when he felt he could get away with it. Recalling old war stories like he had done since Ruby and Yang were small enough to sit on his lap. Her Dad also listening along with some nostalgia and faintest of smiles.

Her Dad and Qrow had never really gotten along as far as she knew, even when they had been on the same squad together. He featured in almost all of her uncle’s stories, unflattering though the portrayal may be, but the man adamantly refused to tell his daughters stories of the “Good old days” himself. Ruby may have been “just a child” but even she didn’t need to wonder why.

“SO, that rotten sister of yours ran off and left you and now she’s out past the wall where all the real fun is, learning to be a pilot, having the time of her life”

“Qrow, come on, she doesn’t need to hear that!”

“Kicking ass, making a name, pulling in all the girls, or guys, or whatever it is she’s into”

“QROW!”

“Hey, like I always said, if you can’t pick up chicks in a giant mechanised suit of tank armour then you can’t pick up chicks!” Ruby covered her mouth, trying to supress a low nasally giggle. God she was such a child.

“But then you know all about that don’t you, lady killer?”

“It’s been 20 years Qrow, you’re getting grey. We both are.”

Hearing that was enough to bring a slight twitch to Qrow’s eye. “I might be getting a bit long in the tooth but we can’t all pull off socks and sandals now can we? That takes talent!” Shooting a side glance at Taiyang’s offending footwear.

Stifling her laughter was a lost cause. Not that what Qrow said had been particularly laughable but the sheer look of astonishment on her father’s face when he said it.

“Meanwhile you’re stuck here in the boonies, with only dear old Dad to keep you company.”

“Oh come on, I’m right here!”

“But don’t you worry your fluffy little head because, as usual, your old uncle Qrow is here with the solution!”

“QROW, NO!” This time Ruby could tell he was serious. He raised out of his chair putting all his weight on his palms, hunched over the table, blonde heckles standing on end. Although the man had left behind anything close to fighting long ago, he was still not someone you would want to make angry. After all, a lion is still a lion

“Come on Tai, you know she’s gonna learn eventually, you can’t stop her from going out there, Yang’s out there right now! Wouldn’t you rather she learn here where you can keep an eye on her?”

The large man’s squared shoulders softened as he resigned himself back to his seat though his furrowed brow remained. He knew it was true and if it meant he could send his daughter away feeling even slightly more assured she could take care of herself, he would agree to anything.

Ruby finally spoke up, “Wait so, what’s happening?”

“I was thinking, why don’t I show you the ropes? Something to impress your Sis with after she gets back. Maybe even teach you some of my signature ass-kicking moves!”

Ruby stared at her uncle, eyes wide as the cogs began to turn “Are- are you serious!?

Her eyes darted between her uncles sly grin to her fathers concerned face.

“Just do everything your uncle tells you” Her Dad sighed finally. “Unless he’s drunk. In which case, do nothing he tells you.”

“Tai, drinking around minors? Do you really have such a low opinion of me?” His grin was replaced with feigned indignation.

“But what about the age restriction?” Ruby immediately hated herself for saying anything that might hurt her chances

“Relax! As long as the fun police says it’s okay!”

“But how can you teach me when we don’t have a -.”

“What?” Qrow dangled a set of keys enticingly from his finger “You think I walked here?”

 

Ruby ran out of the cabin, down the path and into the treeline, Zwei hot on her heels, moving as fast as the corgi’s tiny legs would carry him. Qrow followed behind them, limping along without any of Ruby’s urgency. Her father pulling up the rear, arms crossed in a serious manner as if seeing his daughter so excited didn’t bring a lightness to his step.

Passed the trees, a few yards away from the gate, the weak light of the evening sun barely parsing the dense thicket and the only sound to be heard was the chirping of birds and insects

Soon the thick wood split apart and there in the small clearing, the towering mechanical figure came into view, silhouetted against the burning orange light of the horizon.

A titanic beast of impenetrable armour plating and servo assisted limbs. The tank like body supported by two wide set pneumatic steel legs that tapered off into large shock absorbing frames, partially submerged into the marshy earth where the ground yielded under its immense weight. In some places armour plating was missing, cogs and other internal workings left visible beneath. The hull was marred with all manner of black tribal markings, their only discernable purpose complementing the owner’s overblown sense of style like some gaudy tattoo. The main cabin protruded from the main body, a structure resembling a metallic bird’s skull. A long red cloth tied to the access hatch starkly contrasted the solid grey and black, gently flowing in the wind like the cape of some superhero out of the pages of a comic book.

Ruby stood in awe, neck straining as she tried to take it all in, she barely noticed Qrow and her father close in behind her.

“Impressive ain’t she? I fine-tuned this badass mother myself! Why don’t we take her out and I’ll show you how I got my nickname –“

“What a piece of junk!” Taiyang regarded the pile of metal with irritation and disbelief “I had no idea you were still flying, but with this _museum piece_! I’m surprised the thing can still stand!”

“Don’t you EVER call her a piece of junk!” This time Qrow indignation was real “You’re looking at the CRESCENT WING! Performed over 150 successful operations and that’s just the ones I can talk about!”

“Qrow, the Paladin-260 models we used to run around in were death traps! If I let Ruby inside that thing I won’t have to worry about anything outside the wall because she won’t even make it that far!”

“Tie relax, she only _looks_ vintage. Under the hood she’s state of the art! Trust me, Old Jimmy doesn’t even spend this much on his best boys!”

“If you upgraded the inside” Ruby interrupted, tongue in cheek “does that mean it has _cup holders_?”

“No, and if you spill so much as a drop of anything other than blood on my interior I’ll hang you from the wall by your hood!”

“Qrow!”

“It was a joke! The hanging part that is, not the bleeding part, that’s bound to happen!” Qrow slung the keys around his finger before tossing them to Ruby. She held them out at arm’s length with a look of absolute reverence

“First thing in the morning we’ll take her for a spin. Just don’t get so much as a scratch on her bodywork or you can forget about the whole thing!”

“ _Scratch_?!” Taiyang scoffed “The thing’s covered in scratches! It’d be harder to find a patch of metal that isn’t scratched”

He wasn’t wrong. All over, the gunmetal grey body was peppered with burns, lacerations and what were recognisably claw marks, evidence of past encounters.

“Those aren’t scratches, those are battle scars!” Qrow seemingly genuinely offended that someone could mistake the two “When I pull up at base and the boys ask how my cabin got torn clean open I better have something cooler to tell them than “My niece crashed into a tree”! I’ve got a reputation to maintain!”

“I’m sure your reputation as the “Drunken old crow” is safe by now!”

“You’re pushing your luck pal!”

The two vitriolic veterans bickered long after the sun had set, their only audience a lone blackbird that had taken perch atop the giant suit of armour.

That night Ruby lay in her bed with Zwei curled up beside her on the covers and she dreamed of the future and of her own war stories she would tell one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always viewed Ruby as the kind of wide-eyed idealist who would end up fighting to be a "Hero for justice" regardless of the setting. In a world of monster hunters she becomes a huntress, in a world of giant robots she becomes a pilot. Plus her in series reaction to first seeing the Paladin in volume 2 makes me think that if she didn't have semblance or a weapon, that would be her next her next best thing. 
> 
> Here we go, now the real cringe can set in! I'm going to bumble my way through this whole story if it kills me, or until I get bored. Writing is probably one of my weakest skills so Feedback is desperately appreciated, literally anything you can think of really. Can't undersell that desperation. 
> 
> And if you are actually interested enough to ask a question, those are appreciated too!


	3. The Boneyard

When she had first arrived at Signal Base for boot camp, she had fully expected that she would be passing her nights by exchanging gossip and scary stories around lamp light with all the friends she would no doubt make, along with the occasional pillow fight. All the things she’d felt left out of in school, but all those girls ever talked about were clothes, painting nails or worse, _boys!_

But being a cadet was something else entirely, she would have no problem making friends because everyone who found themselves there had at least one thing in common, they were going to become a pilot! Of course they would be enamoured with mechanical engineering as much as she was, of course she would make a group of wonderful and quirky friends that would last a lifetime, and they would go on adventures and help each other through any hardship.

Or at least that was the idea that had been planted in her head by every adventure novel or cartoon she had ever seen. The reality, as usual, wasn’t quite so romantic.

Everyone just seemed to keep to themselves, it didn’t help that Ruby had no idea how to maintain small talk that wasn’t about mechanics or engineering and when their every day was filled with just that, it wasn’t really a popular topic during rec time.

Not that her obsessive enthusiasm had been particularly beneficial _during_ class. Before they so much as _saw_ the hangar bay they had to pass an obstacle course of written exams. Reciting facts and figures with seconds notice was something Ruby often did unprovoked, but forcing that vague stream of consciousness into something legible on paper was another thing entirely. To say Ruby was poor at studying would qualify one for understatement of the year. Not that she didn’t try, but every time she picked up a text book or read over a test paper it would be minutes before the words began to bleed into each other in an oppressive wall of text she was barely sure was even English. It was enough to make her go cross eyed, headaches forcing her eyes tight shut. Why was it that text books were so different from her adventure novels?

This wasn’t the hands on method of teaching she was used to from her uncle, strangely reading was never on his lesson plan. Forcing herself through text book after text book on “ _Proper technique when ascending a boarding ladder_ ” or even “ _correct formation when scaling cliff sides_ ” wasn’t nearly as engaging as actually _doing_ it. After failing miserably in her first two examinations Ruby decided enough was enough, she was ready to beg if that’s what it would take. After the results were posted she went to plead with her instructors, if they would just let her into a cockpit she could show them just what she was capable of, she was not however prepared for their response.

The lesson structure at Signal had been far more hands on until only a year ago. A girl her own age had been killed in a tragic training accident. She had failed to engage her AT shield at a critical moment. Such an occurrence was infrequent but riding inside a rusty training unit without it, you might as well be piloting 60 tons of steel toothpicks.

Ruby could barely picture it, she had been even younger than that girl was when she first learned and it made up some of her fondest memories. Had her life been in that much danger even then? Last year, why had Yang not told her about it? Not wanting Ruby to worry seemed like her but it didn’t matter now, the tension among the new cadets was now recognisably panic and fear. They all knew but none of them wanted to make it a point of discussion. After all, panic and fear would only bring hungry shadows sniffing at their walls.

The dead girl’s father had apparently been some influential figure on close terms with General Ironwood himself, and that influence had meant his anger would be felt for a long time to come. Needless to say, Signal suffered numerous budget cuts and severe restructuring to the staff. Just one more slip up would give them the excuse they needed to shut the camp down completely. Ruby knew then that what she was asking was impossible.  They were never going to let her get in the cockpit without first passing the written tests even if they thought she was capable, they couldn’t take the chance and risk another catastrophe. And if she couldn’t pass the written exam by the end of the first semester it didn’t matter what she could do, they would send her home.

 

It was too much. Ruby didn’t want to go back to the barracks and face the indifferent looks of the other cadets. She couldn’t bear the thought of calling home and spilling her guts to her father, she already knew what he’d say: he’d tell her that there was nothing to be ashamed of in coming home. It wasn’t his fault but that was never going to be what she needed to hear. All she wanted to do was find a secluded place to curl up into a ball and never have to look at other people, never have to look at test papers and never have to look at anything she didn’t know how to deal with again.

At that time of the day most of Signal was deserted, severely understaffed and lessons had ended for the day so no one was going to come looking for her behind the tool shed. It was out of the way, tucked into the far corner of the base up against the perimeter fence. There, crouched down behind a graffiti stained dumpsters, she wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her knees. If there was any upside it was that no one was there to see her like this, except for a couple of mice distractedly picking through todays leftovers. Every time she was sure she’d outgrown crying she always seemed to surprise herself.

Yang! Yang always seemed to know just what to say to make her feel like herself again. As much as she wanted to feel the sense of independence that comes with tackling your demons unaided, she was not above a little bit of sisterly comforting and maybe some advice. Removing her scroll pad from her side pocket and punching in Yang’s number. Nothing, not even a dial tone. Reception at Signal was always terrible, to be expected when there was a 100 foot wall between them and the nearest transmission tower.

If she could get higher she could probably get a better connection. Following that thought she hoisted herself onto the dumpster before proceeding to pull herself up with both arms on to the roof of the storage shed. A task that seemed far more straightforward before she remembered her utter lack of upper body strength, how did Yang do this every day? With more effort than it should have taken she rolled her little body onto that roof. Taking a second to catch her breath before taking out her scroll again to call Yang.

Yang didn’t answer, the scroll didn’t ring, Ruby didn’t press call, she didn’t get the chance. Her attention had been consumed by the sight that sprawled out before her, behind the storage shed and just beyond the fence. How had she not noticed this until now? She’d never really had a reason to be on this end of the compound but this was _huge._

The _Boneyard_. A wide area of dry dead grassland surrounded by another perimeter fence which now served as the final resting place for a vast number of paladin units. Once used as a tool for educating future generations, now left to fall into obsolescence.

She didn’t care how many rules she would be breaking, she had to get a closer look. Pulling back to get as much distance as the roof would allow she took a running jump, clearing the fence and landing less than gracefully on the opposite side. Heaving herself up off the dusty grass, now the exact colour of rust shared by most of the steel shells resting there. She shook herself clean like a wet dog before pausing to marvel at the awesome sight in front of her. Now that she was closer she could see there had to be 30 or 40 of them at least, all standing to attention in the pale autumn sun.

She approached slowly, turning on her heel several times over in an effort to take it all in, her eyes filled with reverence for the titanic husks. Several frames left bare, their armour plating picked clean and a few that were missing arms or legs, but for the most part they were all fairly intact. None were pristine by any standard but far from irreparable, clearly being left to gather dust due to a revised budget making their upkeep too costly and being far too outmoded to serve any official function.

The wind whipped through the empty husks and resounded in an eerie wail, coupled with the straining and groaning of the tired wrecks from all around her left an unsettling atmosphere that could only recall that of a grave yard. As if to punctuate her impression, the caw of a single crow echoed so loudly she was certain her heart stopped and left her heckles standing on end. The ragged bird sat perched atop the shoulder of one of the ruined giants as if there was actually meat to be picked from its steel bones. The feathered wretch swooped at Ruby’s head, eliciting a choked boyish cry from the girl before gliding to another iron frame across the desolate patch of land.

She picked herself up, turning to fix the winged pest with an irritated scowl before the sight that loomed over her shut out every other thought.

The crow had perched itself atop the shoulder armour of a lone Paladin-260. Ruby had felt an overwhelming admiration for the model ever since those days with her uncle two years prior. It was the model she’d learned to pilot in, she knew its frame work inside and out.  It stood leagues apart from the rest at least in her own mind. Even now, standing in a scrapyard it still had a quiet dignity to it, nowhere near as flashy as her uncles unit and in desperate need of some maintenance, it still seemed to have weathered the rust and hail far better than any of the other husks. And the access ladder was still attached!

She contemplated it quietly, palms growing sweaty, biting her bottom lip as she tried to maintain a pretence of restraint. It stood there, enticing her, provoking her just by existing. With the last of her self-control her subconscious whispered “Do I dare?” as if any idiot doubted the answer.

In the past she had always pictured the moment when a pilot climbs the ladder as some solemn event, but in reality her boots barely touched on the steps at the speed she ascended the rickety frame, modesty be damned she’d waited long enough. At the top step her eyes began to detect finer details, the feint scratches in the steelwork from years of hard wearing and a rather large dent in the side of the cabin, impacted by some previous collision, all together it was beautiful. She ran her hand reverently over the access hatch, a quiver running down her spine. “Hello my darling”, no sooner had the words left her mouth her entire body cringed in embarrassment that thankfully, no one was around to see.

She pulled the release latch and the cabins pressurised access hatch snapped open punctuated by a sharp pshht. The crow thrashed its wings and took off, feathers ruffled by the escaping burst of air. The sealed panel raised effortlessly on its hinges, Ruby was overcome by the scent of rusting iron and old leather and she felt as fondly of it as some bibliophile towards the scent of old books. She clambered through the porthole feet first, her small frame perching on the edge of the pilot’s chair that had been unoccupied for so long. Her hands moved instinctively to rest on the controls, despite the smell, the cockpit seemed to be in remarkable condition, though the console and upholstery were coated in thin layer of crusty grime but nothing a sponge couldn’t take care of.

Yanking the hatch closed behind her she sank down into the cramped pilot seat, a long content sigh swelled up from deep down, her small frame turning to jello as though she were going melt into the padded leather. The tight enclosure of the cockpit would have been suffocating for most but to Ruby it felt like home. In a paladins cabin was where she felt most comfortable, most like herself, this was the most peaceful she’d felt since she’d first arrived on base. The servos felt to her like phantom limbs, the steel casing a second skin, when she was in tune with a paladin and the whole frame became an extension of her own body, there was no where else she would rather be.

Now all she had to do was make everyone else see it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not entirely sure what I was thinking. Still much cringe to be felt, hope someone finds my nerdy ramblings worth it though. If I still enjoy writing this in a week I might start adding drawings of what I imagine different things look like. Any and all criticism welcome, even if it's just to tell me to take a flying leap, I'm just that desperate :}


	4. An Oppertunity

Ruby’s next two weeks at Signal were a blur, days seem to blend into each other when you aren’t following any particular sleep schedule. Rather sleep was pushed way down her list of priorities as her waking hours were spent trying to organise the facts and figures cluttering her befuddled mind and arranging them in a manner that was at least partially legible onto sticky notes that now cluttered every available surface of her cramped cockpit.

While she wasn’t cramming for the next written assessment her time was dedicated to her own _little_ side project. Borrowing a set of tools from the storage shed was the easy part, there were plenty going spare now that there were fewer units in need of repairs.

In the past the cadets would have been split into teams of two or three and each charged with their own Paladin which it was their responsibility to clean and maintain. Post budget cuts, repair class had come down to one disinterested instructor performing routine checks while a group of 30 or 40 cadets took notes.

Without hands on experience the whole lesson seemed to Ruby like a waste of time. As kids she and yang had entertained all manner of horror stories about cadets who lost entire arms because a team mate had fired up the engine without warning. At the very least they both expected to come away with some impressive scarring to catch the eyes their classmates once they graduated to battle school.

As it was, the two hour long repair _demonstration_ was barely worth keeping her eyes open for when a basic tutorial could be found in any operators manual. The instructor hadn’t even attempted to cover the kind of quick-and-dirty field repairs you need to know how to preform when you’re miles outside the wall with no professional equipment, the kind that can only be taught by someone who had experienced the kind of innovation brought out by sheer desperation, someone like her Qrow.

Ruby had, in her opinion, mastered the art of sleeping in class long ago, Casually leaning back in her seat, obscuring her eyes with the hood was all it took for her to enter covert nap time. It was usually that easy but as it was, the piercing cold of the near vacant hangar had made it completely impossible to relax, as well as doubling as an echo chamber for the instructors droning voice.

“So in review, larger calibre artillery may be repelled by thinner armour as long as your Aura Transmission shield is properly directed so lighter frames are equally dangerous in the right hands. However, even small arms munitions can do significant damage if the armour plating isn’t properly angled”. “Sir, what about rocket jumping?” a cadet shouted out. “Take this seriously or Shut up!” the gruff man shot back before returning to his rehearsed spiel

Joke or not, it had been the most interesting thing she’d heard all lecture. ‘What _about_ rocket jumping? What if you needed to perform an assisted jump without dedicated boosters? Wouldn’t it be possible given the right angle, distance to impact and enough surface area?’ Of course even _she_ knew better than to say any of this out loud.

“However, against larger Grimm, plate mail has proven largely ineffective, as such, always make sure your AT shield is deployed and take care to present as few openings as possible. Avoid showing the enemy your broadside and be extremely careful of penetration from the rear” oh no… “Your access panel can get loose after repeated use so always remember to do regular maintenance and keep it nice and tight” Ruby began fidgeting in her seat. “Remember to thoroughly wipe down your barrel and only erect your mounted weaponry when it’s time for action to avoid hitting your teammates with an accidental discharge.”

She couldn’t help it, it just slipped out. Not even a laugh. A chortle! A loud boyish nasally chortle! It rebounded off the walls of the vacuous hangar, followed by a long silence. All faces turned towards her, her own blanched pale cheeks rapidly matching the colour of her hood.

Class ended, Ruby burst from the hangar side door as fast as she could without breaking into an outright sprint, pulling her hood down far over her face. She didn’t mind being ignored by the other cadets, she had long since gotten used to it, but at the very least she didn’t want them to think of her as some kind of--! She didn’t want to imagine what they were probably muttering about her!

If Yang were there she’d tell her she was overreacting but that was easy for her to say, after all, by the time she’d reached her teens, Yang seemingly discovered an innate talent for socialising. She wasn’t the one who had spent her whole school life being known as some kind of freaky technophile.

Neither sister blended into a crowd particularly well, while one drew in attention like a magnet, the other avoided them like the living dead. That was just the way it had always been, Yang squares her shoulders and plants herself like a tree and Ruby ran.

The hood helped, it could shut out as much of the world as she needed, made focusing on things and avoiding people’s gaze that much easier. Her first red hooded fleece had been hand made for her by her mother, and in the years that followed she hopped from one hood to another, wearing it to the point where it became tattered, stained and several sizes too small before finally moving on to another but never throwing any away.

Often it was all Yang could do to convince her to take it off long enough to take a bath, any attempts to force the girl into less concealing clothing had been met with dismal results. In fact Ruby was partially sure that no one outside of her immediate family had even seen her uncovered head. But right now he had no problem letting her hood down, safe inside the Paladin’s cockpit where no one would come looking for her.

She had spent the whole afternoon replacing and realigning fluid transmission, her own idea of a good time. For any piece of the P-200 model that was damaged or outright irreparable, she had no trouble salvaging fitting replacements from the other Junkers. Stripping them down and loading the pieces onto an old rickety dolly she’d found under a pile of scrap. Heaving the contraption across the boneyard as its wheals squealed in protest under the weight reminded Ruby of her little red wagon she owned as a child.

Now it was the moment of truth, time to fire up the Dust engine and see if it would move or if the junker really was beyond her help. Performing some last minute checks, her shaky hands moved to the jury rigged ignition.  

The steel frame rumbled, vents pumped out clouds of dust and stale air, dull vibrations rattled through the console, through the seat and then finally, the monitors bristled into life. The startup screen bathed the cabin in a dim light before one after another, forward left and right screens registered a fuzzy crackling vision of the world outside.

Diagnostic programs confirmed what Ruby already felt in her gut. It worked! Repairing a broken Paladin was the final practical exam before certification to a specialised field and she had done it with a box of scraps! There wouldn’t be time for a test drive right then and there but the dull hum of the dust engine was enough to prove what no theory test ever could. To herself if no one else, it proved that she was ready!

The inside of the cabin was littered with sticky notes from sporadic cramming sessions that now flapped lightly in the recirculated air. Her sense of dread when faced with the overwhelming walls of text had been replaced by determination, The Paladin was _her_ baby, and no pointless test paper was going to make all her hard work be wasted. She haphazardly scooped the notes off of the cabin walls before cramming them into a notebook and shoving the whole thing into her rucksack.

Straps slung over one shoulder, Ruby sprinted back towards the blind spot in the perimeter fence, determined to always make it back before role call lest someone start questioning where it was she was spending her time, this was one instance where she was very happy none of the other cadets really cared what she did.

She made it halfway across the courtyard when her scroll began chiming to indicate it received a message that had probably been floating around the airwaves waiting for a decent connection.

It was from Yang. They hadn’t spoken nearly as much as Ruby would have liked and when they did, she didn’t have much to say. Not the least because she couldn’t bring herself to tell yang how badly things had been going.

She took out her scroll and expanded the screen and opened the message. It was uncharacteristically short, especially for Yang.

_“Have you been to see her yet?”_

 

 

The following morning came with sickening uneasiness and the written exam wasn’t for another two days. Cadets were usually made to run laps or practicing drills after breakfast but this morning their C.O had come into the canteen shortly after breakfast and told her to report to the main office.

Now Ruby shivered and it had nothing to do with the cold. They knew! They knew that she had “Liberated” equipment and snuck into a restricted area. They had to. Why else would they have called her here?

They’d told her to wait in the office until someone came to address her. The longer she waited, the worse it was. Her eyes darted around to room for something distract herself but there was nothing, no pictures on the walls, no medals on the desk, not even a pot full of pens for signing official documents. Nothing she assumed would be found in the office of an important military person, just an empty desk.

Finally she heard the door handle clack behind her and in stepped a middle aged man in a green suit with silver hair crossed the room and took the chair behind the desk. Ruby recognised him as the Sargent by the epaulettes on his shoulders, his forehead was marred with heavy lines and he bore an expression of complete exhaustion as he eyed a paper in his hand before stuffing it into a draw.

His eyes looked Ruby over for a moment before clearing his throat. “You must be wondering why you’re here, I’ll keep this brief. Last night boarder defences detected Grimm activity in the forest a few miles from here. My superiors believe that there are not enough active pilots on site to defend Signal if they move in our direction and given the circumstances, have decide it would be more practical to retire this camp and relocate its staff. The students with provisional clearance are being moved to other bases to complete their practical training” He paused for a moment as Ruby took in his words. “And you are being sent home”.”

“What?! No, you can’t! The test is in two days! I can pass this time, I know I can!”

“Every other student who failed the exam returned home” He continued “No one expected you to hang on this long. The fact that you refuse to quit even after multiple failures is admirable and I know this situation wasn’t what you were prepared for. You can apply to any of the other bases”.

“But there’s still time!” and now she was back to pleading “If you could move up the date of the test, please! I haven’t even visited my-!”

“I’m sorry, it’s already been decided. I’ve already informed the others. I pulled you aside because I thought you should be told one on one. The airship is arriving first thing tomorrow, return to quarters and pack your things”.

So that was that. She had barely started and now she would be taken out of the game before she’d even had a chance to play. The things she was putting off doing and now might never be able to do again. Who knows when that area would be cleared out or what state it would be in when the dust cleared. It was just the latest crappy circumstance in a long line of crappy circumstances.

Or maybe it was an opportunity…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not so proud of this one but when something needs to get from point A to point B in a certain number of steps.  
> Thinking of cutting off after chapter 5 and making the whole thing a prologue since everything after chapter can kind of be read on it's own.


	5. Proving Grounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final part of the prologue. With her Paladins repairs complete, Ruby sets out to show anyone who previously doubted her just what she is capable of. Assuming it really was that easy.

The shadowy form of a towering mechanical body lumbered its way through a petrified forest. A hulking pile of impenetrable armour plating and servo assisted limbs. The warm glow of its Dust engine rippled through exposed veins, forming steam in contact with the air while in other places, oil stained metallic skin slowly iced over.

With every movement came an unearthly sound of metal straining against metal. Titanic iron feet met with a resounding crunch against a fresh layer of snow, the whirr of gyros making minute adjustments to its pace with each thunderous step.  Hulking metal arms swung by its sides, reducing branches to splinters. Flashing sensors spun energetically on both flanks, casting beams of light through the trees, darting back and forth like eyes, constantly searching, and ready to lock on to any sign of movement.

“Paladin-260” engraved across its right side. Plain and impersonal, just another war machine pushed off of an assembly line years ago. Indistinguishable from any other model in its line, with one obvious exception. Atop the main body, flowing in the wind, a long red cloth tied to the access hatch like the cape of some superhero in the pages of a comic book. There were many units just like it, but this one was _hers_. Personal flare betraying a desire make herself as noticeable as possible.

Soon the walking tank reached a clearing and stepped out into an open field, gunmetal grey contrasting starkly against the white snow. The pale morning sun cast rays over the plate-mail frame but yielded no warmth. Ruby Rose took in a deep breath and pushed forward, it was far too late to turn back now.

Keeping pace to the centre of the clearing, completely visible from all sides, surrounded by thick treeline. Skeletal branches reached into the sky like pitch black fingers trying to claw their way from the frozen earth, providing the perfect cover for any approaching threat. It was a place from her childhood, back then it had been full of life but now it looked closer to something in her nightmares.

Just Past the opposing treeline and a little further still there was a familiar cliff side.  Waiting for her there was someone she had wanted to talk to for so long it felt like she had held her breath every day waiting. But now she was afraid to go, afraid of what feelings might be dragged to the surface.

She knew with her back against a sheer drop is no place to turn around and fight, that meant this clearing would be the last best chance to take a stand against the things that followed her trail. Movement sensors were useless at this distance, the only option now was to sit and wait, red cape rippling in the icy wind like a war flag. 

Inside the armoured cabin Ruby perched on the edge of her seat, each steady breath visible in the air, pulse fast but even against her palms, gripping servo controls tight in both hands. The metal frame was protection from the icy breeze among other things but did little to keep in the heat. Her old form fitting pilot suit again gave little insulation even covered by her red hoodie, she wondered if perhaps tying a blanket to the outside of the robot was maybe not the best idea. It was fine, she was too tense to shiver and the cold air kept her alert.

Her mess of crimson hair hung over a pale face lit up by the flickering of so many tiny lights, dials and switches that adorned the inside of the cabin, each one with its own unique function or setting. It would be impossible to keep track for anyone except those with expert eyes and so many years of training.

All of them flashing or quietly beeping and all of them completely ignored. Ruby’s silver eyes were only focussed on her main monitor, silently scanned the treeline, unblinking and ready for what she knew was fast approaching.

Barely noticeable against the black wood, something moved towards her slowly with all the purpose of a predator. An indiscernible black mass at this distance, easily mistakable for some woodland creature, but she knew better.

The monster at the end of so many bedtime stories, the thing that keeps mankind cowering behind their walls, the reason they encased themselves inside 30ft tall suits of armour. Every language had a word for them and every word was the same.

  _“Grimm”_

It stepped into the open, its form cast against the snow the unmistakable silhouette of a wolf though much, much larger. The wolf’s fur had no shine or texture, it was as if its body was so black that light itself could not escape. Its movements were unnatural, its body twitching, rippling with every step and all the while, a pair of soulless red eyes never wavered, as if looking passed the metal shell, fixated on the girl inside.

Through the glow of the monitor Ruby stared down the oncoming threat, supressing the shiver that ran down her spine. Looking directly at it was like staring into a bottomless cavern. An abyss that held your gaze the longer you looked into it and while it filled her body with dread, there was also a vague feeling of warmth that crept inside her head. She was tired, her body sluggish as her grip on the controls became slack and her arms grew heavy. The feeling was a familiar one, but she couldn’t remember why.

Finally close enough, movement sensors burst into life, locking onto the approaching nightmare. Inside, warning signs and deafening sirens cast the whole cabin in a red glow, the cacophony pulling her from whatever daydream she couldn’t remember. Eyes wide, breath forced its way into her lungs, painfully cold fingers locked tight around the controls.

Further behind the first, her keen eyes detected two more “wolves” approaching from the tree line, having closed the gap while she was distracted. “In battle, a pilot has to be able to rely on all of their senses, not just what the they can see through a monitor”, her uncles words echoed in her ears as if he were sitting right beside her, she could almost smell the whisky on his breath.

 If he’d been there to see her amateur mistake he would have delivered a swift smack to the back of her skull. She would have welcomed it, but real battle was different, there was no one to hold her hand this time. After running so many drills his words were drilled into her head, second nature, she wouldn’t let herself slip up again. Now, on her own for the first time, she would see if it had paid off.

The rippling black form exploded into life, charging forward with unnatural speed, the other two close behind. Fangs bared through ugly maws, razor sharp claws ripped through the air and soon, through steel.

She sat back in the pilot seat and let out a low steady breath that condensed in the air. The tight enclosure of the cockpit would have been suffocating for most but to her it was home, it was where she felt most alive, most like herself. She wouldn’t stand by while people who didn’t understand her talked about taking it away from her and after they saw what she could really do, they wouldn’t dream of it.

The paladin coiled up on its pneumatic haunches, a high pitched whine echoed through the core of the machine and getting gradually louder, the unmistakable sound of pressure building. Reaching its peak, Ruby thrust forward with both levers.

The first set of claws and teeth lunged, ready to cut through armour plating like butter and then through the soft flesh inside, only to fall short in the air.

In a burst of steam the paladin tore off like a slingshot, propelled by almighty mechanical muscles.

All three wolves stopped in their tracks, heads toward to sky. The steel giant sailed through the air with a grace and speed betraying its size and weight, backlit by the pale winter sun.

As the pilot’s tiny body is thrown back in her seat by momentum she quickly regained control. Glancing down to mark her targets before releasing safety locks. Armour plating slid apart and reconfigured as weapons are brought to bear.

A piercing _CRACK_ shattered the quiet stillness of the woodland. The wolf’s skull exploded in a crimson mist as its body sunk lifelessly to the ground, the snow beneath stained with red.

The rusty outmoded paladin came back down to earth, landing with unknown grace as perfectly maintained shock absorbers dampen a body shattering impact.

Smoke billowed from the long barrel of a shoulder mounted high impact tank rifle as it cooled in the open air. A quick bolt action and a 120mm shell is ejected from the breach. If the rounds it produced were capable of piercing through heavy armour plating twice as think as her own, it was more than enough to take care of anything with a pulse, assuming Grimm even had hearts to begin with.

The second wolf charged forward, fangs bared.

Despite its size the steel giant reacted quickly under the pilot’s control, swinging the barrel around to take aim. Another _CRACK_ filled the air as a 120mm depleted Dasutanium round is propelled along the barrel but squarely misses its mark. The second shot misses and the third and now the wolf is too close for rifle fire.

Raising up on its hind legs, razor sharp claws desperate to make contact, to rend flash and steel alike. Ruby threw all her weight left on the controls, the paladin responds, rolling to the side in a blur of grey and red, kicking up a cloud of turf and powdered snow.

Back on its feet but with only seconds to prepare. Her Paladin was built for speed and long range fire, it was old and only intended for running training exercises. Its weapon on the other hand was brand new because she had built it herself.

Trained hands rushed to new lever positions at her sides, locking them into forward position with one sharp thrust. The cockpit was shook by the sound of grinding gears and hydraulics. Externally, the paladin’s hands seized the rifle barrel and pulled it free from its shoulder mount.

The wolf moved in again, closing the distance for another slash. 

Iron cast fingers adjusted their grip on the barrel, raising the rifle high into the air like a club. The main body of the rifle burst into life as if every piece were sprig loaded. With a series of locks, whirrs and clicks it reconfigures into another shape entirely, a series of collapsible metal plates aligning themselves into an imposing crescent blade like a reapers scythe.

 Held high in the air by hulking metal arms, the scythe comes down like a blur.

The wolf swings its weighty arm overhead. Like an axe through the trunk of a tree, the single swing cuts to the bone but not enough to sever it completely.

The wolf snarls, rearing its head inches away from the paladin’s steel cabin, fangs bared ready to chew straight through. The cockpits monitor is filled with the image of the creature’s ugly maw, alarms flashing wildly to signal the imminent danger. Under the blaring sirens and epileptic warning lights, Ruby sat completely still.

Her face turned down, facing her knees. With a tight grip on the controls, finger trained lightly over the trigger, her mouth turned up in a feint smirk.

_CRACK_

The nuzzle flared as another 120mm round ripped through the barrel. The recoil tore through iron frame as the force of the shot pushes sharpened steel through bone and flesh.

In an instant, the aberration cleaved in two with incomparable strength, gunmetal grey and snow white peppered with crimson raindrops.

The echo of the enormous gunfire began to fade and there was silence for a moment. The whistling of the wind sweeping across the open plain before grazing against the paladins steel frame. Only one creature remained, an ink stain on an otherwise pristine white canvas. Its empty black eyes having just witnessed two of its kind eviscerated in an instant, it’s primal brain contemplating the danger before it.

Ruby’s silver eyes brimmed with a confidence she hadn’t felt in a long time. She’d just defied death no less than _twice_! Now her focus locked onto the final creature, the paladin arched its shoulders in preparation, pulling back its long scythe blade anticipating another frenzied rush, but the charge never came.

The wolf was still, eyes fixed until finally it raised back its muzzle and released a long piercing howl. A sound to instil fear in the hearts of every living creature that heard it.

Once more, a shiver ran down Ruby’s spine, her body trembled despite herself. The true purpose of the beast’s deafening cry dawning on her moments later.

More were coming! Charging out of the black wood, drawn out by the scent of death.

Real fighting was different wasn’t it? Real fighting had no safety net. You didn’t get to decide when you’d had enough, you had to keep going for as long as it took.

She swung down, sheathing her blade in the ice, steadying the barrel before engaging the trigger rapid fire. Bullets larger than her fist sailed through the air before colliding with oncoming bodies. First two, then three crumpled to the ground punctured and lifeless and they were still coming.

Closing the gap in seconds, she ripped her blade from the ice, swinging around in time to intersect a lunging shadow.

 A cloud of red mist filled her vision before another beast pounced through the haze, only to come eye to eye with her rifle barrel.

In the burst of red still more of them pushed forward. She threw her weight down on the controls, rolling as a set of claws sailed overhead, rending the fabric of the paladin’s ragged cape.

She spun round to face it, lifting her unwieldy blade before bring it down with all its weight, hacking through teeth and bone.

Ruby pulled back, Pneumatic muscles propelling her rearward determined to keep her distance.

A flash of black shot into her peripheral too late to counter.

A single wolf had moved into her blind spot and she had jumped straight into it. She collided mid-air with the swing of its powerful claw, sending the Paladin hurtling away like a child’s toy robot

Ruby struggled to focus her vision through the blinding pain in her skull and the ringing in her ears. Her face felt slimy. She wiped it with her gloved hand and there was blood, from her head or nose, she couldn’t tell.

The Paladin struggled to its feet, The Steel frame groaned in protest as though it were an extension of her own body. As the mech raised again to its full height, the full extent of the damage dawned on her.

Her legs were cold. Colder than they had been all morning. An Icy wind washed over the cabin. The comforting darkness of her cockpit was broken by a glimpse onto the outside world. She could see the powdered snow covered ground beneath her, and it wasn’t through her monitor.  

Three jagged puncture marks through the hull, inches away from her right side.  A rusted weld had torn open like an old wound and the wolf’s claw had ripped straight through, leaving her partially exposed.

Even if her armour was thin, her shield should have been able to take more than one hit. How had it cut through so easily? Unless she never had a shield to begin with.

Something she missed? She made sure to test the Aura Transmitter before she left. Had the circuitry iced up and caused some unseen damage? Did her headset malfunction? Potential diagnostics raced through her head.

Without her AT shield, just one hit too many could reduce her armour to splinters. _Toothpicks_!

She’d gone this long without being pinned down but how long could she keep it up? She could feel herself starting to panic and as she took stock of her dwindling options she’d completely failed to notice her surroundings.

 She was surrounded.

The pack was far larger than she’d even considered. On all sides, dozens of pairs of empty black eyes held her in their lifeless gaze like vultures descending on a lamb who had strayed too far from the herd.

Running wasn’t an option. They’d be all over her before she cleared the tree line.

 Her unit was built for speed and manoeuvrability, not a prolonged dogfight. The armour plating would hold against a few direct hits but if they managed to slow her down for even a moment it would be over.

Panic swelled in her gut, the controls rattled in her trembling hands as the reality of the situation sunk in. This was what she wanted right? An opportunity to prove what she was capable of, she had _asked_ for this!

Only a fool walks into a wolf’s den expecting to emerge unscathed and she was an idiot.

She trapped a whimper behind gritted teeth, regret welling up and burning her eyes.

And then she remembered. There was still something she had left to do.

How could she have let herself get so distracted? Someone waiting for her on that cliff side, she couldn’t waste any more time.

The Paladin once again jerked into motion, Steel fingers seizing the rifle’s side bolt, dragging it back and pumping forward in one solid motion. The old cartridge ejected and a fresh clip locked into place behind it with a _snap._

Nothing was going to get in her way because Ruby Rose had a promise to keep. As her head filled with thoughts of the one who would be waiting for her, a warmth rose up in her chest that made the frigid air feel miles away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was the final chapter for this prologue. I want to continue with this but writing is not at all what I'm good at. Still working on a cover image as well as some designs for the custom paladins and pilot suits, the best part of the mecha genre.

**Author's Note:**

> Well that was the prologue. Thanks to anyone who made it this far. Now might be a good time to go home, I won't blame you. Writing and typing definitely aren't my strong suits and the idea of someone reading this makes me cringe so hard I might have spinal damage. 
> 
> I'll add chapter one straight away so there is actually something to read. Tags will be added as they appear (Honestly I usually don't even click on a story if it doesn't have pairings and horrific smut) and obviously any and all feedback is hugely appreciated!


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